The Ballad of Windswept Rhapsody
by Emerald Viper
Summary: A little side story with Windswept Rhapsody (Zenith Solar) and Clever Devil (Changing Moon Lunar). These are two of the minor characters from The Well of Udr and Heaven Sent Sword. Will probably be four chapters when finished.
1. Chapter 1 - Exalted

**The Ballad of Windswept Rhapsody**

This is not another novel. It's just another little story like "Pandora's Box".

_Thk!_

I hadn't slept in three days, but the sound of a jade blade cutting into the mainmast right over my head woke me right up. As my big brother One-Eyed Jack often says, there's nothing quite like a near-death experience first thing in the morning.

Adrenaline is better than coffee. Keeps you on your toes.

But honestly... who throws a daiklave?

I didn't have to look far to find the culprit. Unnatural currents of air churned around Gyoza Kurage, the Dragonblooded captain of _The Blood Shark_. I'd been dodging him for days, posing as one of his sailors. I'd hoped to make it all the way back to Azure on his ship without being detected, but it looked like my ruse was up.

"You! Stop right there!" He ordered.

I ignored Gyoza's order and ran off to hide behind some of the cargo on deck. _The Blood Shark_ was loaded with more ill-gotten loot than she could carry – a blessing for me. Greedy as he was, Gyoza was never willing to leave anything worth money on any of the ships that he raided, which meant that even the essential working areas of his vessel had devolved into chaotic deathtraps of crates, chests, and stolen weaponry. If a good storm blew up before we came within sight of land, I did not doubt that the bastard and his thugs would sink under the weight of their own sins.

_Shhk!_

A crossbow bolt struck its mark dangerously close to my foot.

It was the second time someone had nearly given me a nice new piercing, and I was quickly running out of places to hide. Still, if there was any hope left for my poor shipmates... I had to do everything in my power to prevent Gyoza from learning that I was more than just a dodgy stowaway. If he discovered that I was the one who'd driven him up onto the precarious political reefs which would inevitably tear some nasty holes in his overinflated ambition... there was no way he'd let me quietly scuttle away once we reached port.

As a rule, pirates don't generally like being double-crossed – and in Coral the insult is even more ferocious if the double-crosser also happens to be a woman. See, in parts of the West a bloody stupid notion exists that womenfolk have got no business on a boat.

Born and raised at sea myself, I take issue at being told to stay put on safe, boring, rocks. Regardless of what some might say, there's no honest reason for keeping girls ashore, except that it keeps them ignorant as the dirt they stand on - believing that their menfolk have the right to treat them like sows. Aunt Ness always did say I had some strong opinions. Of course, by "strong" she usually meant "wrong"... but then again, I suppose every wild youngling needs some sort of impetus to run away from the orphanage in search of adventure.

I held my breath as two pairs of boots thundered in my general direction, not even noticing where I was actually crouched.

_Boots. _The sort aristocrats wear for horse riding.

Just when I'd thought I'd seen it all...

It was no surprise to me that Gyoza couldn't keep a decent sailor in his service. Half his boys were consummate landlubbers only playing at being pirates, which made them worse than any self-respecting brigand ever to sail. They were rich brats who didn't understand the simple courtesies that folks usually afforded one another at sea, and when they weren't complaining about being sick, they were completely focused on the only thing they actually did tolerably well – killing people who were unarmed or otherwise not prepared to fight back.

I didn't have much of a weapon myself, just a nasty little pigsticker that I'd pickpocketed from Gyoza's drunkard boatswain. When the second set of boots passed me and then stopped about four feet away, I reached out and snipped the bloke's belt. His drawers fell down around his knees and he hit his chin hard on the deck. Before First Boots could call for help, I seized Second Boot's chin.

"Nice and easy!" I warned him.

He nodded dumbly. I put my blade to his throat and slowly stood.

"Got your man," I informed Gyoza. "Let's talk business."

The captain blinked in surprise. I saw that he'd retrieved his daiklave after damaging_ The Blood Shark's_ mast and that made me a bit nervous. Strictly speaking, I dislike like seeing large and deadly things flying through the air.

Before Gyoza could tell his crew to stand down, another crossbow bolt narrowly missed me. It tore my headscarf clean off as I dunked behind Second Boots, elbowing him hard in the ribs so that he'd stick with me. As the silk fell to the deck and I bounded to my feet, Gyoza made the connection that I'd been hoping he wouldn't make. According to my mother, I inherited just two things from my father... a bad attitude and a shock of red hair that makes me very easy to pick out of a crowd.

"You!" Gyoza sputtered. "You were the bard at Nyubo's party? It was you all along! This is all your fault!"

"Well now, I think that's a bit hasty. Perhaps I've crimes to answer for, but so have you, Gyoza. I shouldn't have to tell you that The Sealord is eagerly anticipating your arrival in Azure." I smirked, shaking his man just a little to get the stupid lubber good and scared.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't cut you to pieces and throw you to the fishes?" Gyoza demanded.

"I've got your man," I reminded him, tapping the sailor's throat with the flat of my blade.

"Give me a good reason," He retorted.

Realizing that he probably didn't care if I did gut Second Boots right in front of him, I released the lubber.

"Some bargaining chip you turned out to be," I informed him.

Taking my little pigsticker, I cut a line and swung myself up into the rigging. Several crossbows fired at me, and more of Gyoza's goons were coming up from below deck. I was in a terribly obvious position – but I didn't mind that. If I could see everyone... everyone could see me.

"Kill the bitch," Gyoza gave the order.

"Now, now!" I scolded him. "I'm no fool! If I don't return to Azure by week's end, your missing ledgers will be delivered directly to Peleps Nyubo. And I shouldn't have to tell you that The Sealord might not appreciate some of his "dealings" being printed out for all The Realm to see in that nice red ink that you're so fond of."

"Destroying my reputation won't save your friends from hanging!" Gyoza sneered.

"I know! That's why I'm trying to make you a deal!" I sighed heavily. "You drop me in Azure, I'll give you the address where your ledgers are kept. You get to keep your disreputable business, I get to keep my hide. Good deal, eh?"

"How can I know that you won't betray me?" He demanded.

"I'll swear to it – and unlike you, I'll keep my word. But rest assured, even If I don't turn you in for your crimes, someone else eventually will. It's the price you'll pay for being a bastard," I winked.

That remark drove Gyoza right where I wanted him – over the edge. He pitched his daiklave at me again. It flew wide of mark and landed with a splash in the sea. I didn't waste a heartbeat. Scanning the deck, I found the weakest link amongst Gyoza's crew – "First Boots". He was wearing a nice little saber on his hip. Before he stopped ogling over his captain's lost daiklave, I swung down from my perch and planted both feet firmly in the small of his back. He crumpled up like a rag doll and I drew his blade from its sheath, pointing the saber directly at Gyoza.

"You've made your point! I'll take you to Azure!" He held up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"You were going to do that anyway. To get your ledgers back and protect your family's reputation," I informed him. "Now if you also want to keep your head, you're going to have to do me a little favor. There are three men and a Tya in the Sealord's prison. They're accused of robbing and sinking a foppish little pleasure boat belonging to Her Scarletness. You know they didn't do it, because you and I both saw who did. I want justice served."

In fairness, I didn't think Gyoza would have an easy time convincing his superiors that a _disappearing ship_ had sunk the Scarlet Empress's yacht, but that wasn't my problem.

"Just who do you think you are?" He demanded, annoyed by my tenacity and probably still slightly miffed that he'd botched his second attempt to skewer me.

"I'm surprised that you haven't figured it out by now," I replied. "You watched me play at Nyubo's little soirée, didn't you?" Gyoza's thugs all took a solid step back. Some of them knew me as "Ping". It was a favorite alias of mine, mostly because it usually caused folks to assume that I wasn't very bright.

But even the men who hadn't been invited to the event at the governor's palace had heard by word-of-mouth how "the event of the season" for the nobility of the West had ended in utter humiliation for Peleps Nyubo, Sealord Keriv, and "The Pirate King" Gyoza Kurage. Uninvited as per usual, the infamous adventurer bard "Windswept Rhapsody" had made a dramatic appearance and swept the skeletons out of everyone's closets for the general public to gawk at.

"Windswept Rhapsody?" Gyoza hazarded a guess.

"The same," I didn't take my eyes off of him.

"How... how much do you want?" He asked.

"I don't want your money," I answered. "My song and dance bit gets me my daily bread. This is charity work."

"Charity work?" Gyoza echoed incredulously.

"Ridding the West of the scum of the Realm? Gee, maybe I should get paid. But really, it's too much fun!" I smirked.

"Then it seems we can't do business, can we?" Gyoza hissed.

Almost too late, I saw that he had a firewand inside of his coat and that his fingers were inching towards the trigger. I took his hat off with the flat of my blade and shoved my way through his men as one shot caught "Second Boots" in the knee and another one killed "First Boots" dead.

"Damnit! Why won't you just die?" Gyoza cursed.

"What's the point of being legendary, mate – if you're never allowed to exceed folk's expectations?" I teased, not wanting him to hear in my voice how badly those two shots had rattled my nerves.

"Legend or not, you're bleeding, bard. Which means you're not the God some claim you are! You're mortal and you_ will _die!" Gyoza replied and I was shocked to discover that he was right. I'd cut my hand badly on something and taken a nick to the shoulder too.

"Good luck with Peleps Nyubo," I taunted. "If I don't return to Azure..."

"Nothing will happen. You don't have my ledgers! You never had them!" Gyoza snapped.

He'd caught my bluff. I shrugged, pretending that it didn't matter to have my feet cut out from under me. Every set of eyes that was watching our exchange was potentially another believer who would tell the tale of what they'd heard and seen. The more overblown my own reputation became, the more people began to realize that things were rotten to the core in the West. Power, held in the hands of a select few arrogant Dragonblooded had fermented into something intoxicating and inherently corruptive. The whole order of the world had to be torn down and taking out Gyoza Kurage was the first step. If he was invincible and untouchable as everyone believed... it was most fitting that he be brought to his knees first.

"You audacious scoundrel! Is there anything you don't do?" He demanded.

"I don't take what people can't afford to lose, and I don't kill anyone that I don't have to kill! Give me one good reason you should live and you will never hear from me again!" I replied.

"I don't think so. I've had enough of your insolence!" He snarled, loading another shell and leveling his weapon at me. His Essence flared all around him and I gritted my teeth, trying to keep my footing in the ferocious, freezing wind.

A moment's hesitation would have been too long, and so I charged him and ran him through with my stolen blade. I would have killed him dead and lived to tell of it, but he seized the collar of my coat and I couldn't tear away from his grasp before he shot me through the chest. The air went out of my lungs as if I'd been hit by a batten swinging in a hurricane gale. I fell to pieces. I'd always expected to die in a fight – that was the way everyone in my family seemed to go out, but... it was sooner than I'd expected.

I decided I would not cry, and swallowed the sobs that were welling up in my throat.

If I was about to die, at least I'd taken Gyoza with me, and his men were not loyal enough to their captain to continue covering up his illicit dealings, especially not after he'd just shot one of them dead in front of all of the others.

Someone from _The Blood Shark_ would throw the blame where it justly belonged – on Sealord Keriv, and my shipmates would be released. Searching Gyoza's personal papers would doubtless confirm everything – and though his incriminating ledgers weren't anywhere that I could get to them, once word got out that Gyoza was dead, Peleps Nyubo would surely find them under a bench in his garden – along with a particularly distinctive undergarment that he would recognize as belonging to Gyoza's jilted mistress.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned – as they say. In the end, justice _would_ prevail.

Aunt Ness used to say that even the worst of men could receive a bit of grace after meeting someone noble and righteous. She claimed that doing good was like bringing a light into a dark room, and that people couldn't help but appreciate it.

I looked out at the midday sun and smiled slightly despite myself. She'd be proud, the bloody stupid woman.

I closed my eyes. I could feel my heart struggling and smell blood and the acrid stench of the alchemical firewand ammunition. There were a lot of shadows looking down on me – I thought I recognized whichever Boots it was that hadn't been killed, and the damned drunk boatswain whose name still eluded me. They seemed more perplexed by me dying there on the deck of their ship than by their captain meeting his ignoble end. Their faces faded out a little more with the fading light at their backs and for the briefest of moments I thought I saw my father amongst them.

Before I considered how impossible it was for me to recognize a man I'd never met – for a person who'd never taken the slightest interest in my upbringing or welfare to be standing over me on the deck of _The Blood Shark_, I reached out to take his hand. It gave me the strength I needed to stand. The wound I thought I'd taken wasn't so bad. I'd had the wind knocked out of me... but I'd live to fight another day.

"Thanks," I said.

"Don't thank me yet," a strangely familiar voice laughed.

That was when I realized that I couldn't actually look at the face of the man who'd helped me to my feet.

His eyes burned like the sun.

All of the sailors aboard _The Blood Shark_ were staring in my direction as if they'd just witnessed someone rising from the dead. It was fairly obvious that none of them saw the man with the radiant face, which left me with a fairly good guess as to who he was and why I hadn't noticed him on the ship before. The stranger who'd helped me up was a God. Which meant that it was fairly possible that I had been dying. A powerful God could save a mortal from the brink of death – but powerful Gods never showed themselves without good reason.

"No, really. Thank you for saving me." I replied, a bit more earnestly now that I knew I was talking to an immortal being who could probably shatter the ship I stood on to pieces if he felt so inclined.

"You were never fated to die here, Windswept Rhapsody. You have far too many songs left to write!" The God laughed. His voice was a pleasure to listen to, and his laughter was intoxicating. I found myself wishing we were anywhere else in Creation so that I might have invited him to sit down and drink with me.

I wondered if he knew "_The Grand Old Heroes_". It had been a long time since I'd sung that one, but it was always better played with a pair of musicians rather than a bard traveling all alone.

"I suppose so. But... is there anything I can do for you?" I prompted. It wasn't like me to offer an undisclosed favor to a stranger.

"As a matter of fact, there is. A terrible curse plagues my Chosen. You must find the source of that curse and destroy it. But you cannot tell anyone what you are looking for, for those who created the curse will fight you with all of their strength if they learn what you are doing," he replied.

"Sounds difficult," I observed.

"More difficult than you can possibly imagine," he nodded.

"I suppose I should warn you, I'm only a small-time hero," I informed him.

He laughed. "All heroes start small."

"I'll do what I can. But you haven't given me a lot to go on," I admitted.

"I'll be with you every step of the way. Not... physically. But I'll be with you," he replied. "Although there is one more thing you should know, my dear one. Since I have laid my hands upon you, you are now cursed as well. And the only way to sever the curse from your soul is for you to die. So the day will come when you must."

"I expected to die today," I admitted, a little unnerved by the sudden "catch" in the madcap quest that I'd just accepted. "But you need me to die for you, is that it?"

"For me? No, not for me. I wouldn't ask something so petty. Let me show you something," He put his hand on my shoulder and a flood of images poured into my mind. I saw a city so beautiful that it was painful to look upon and wonders I couldn't even find words to describe. It was the more glorious than anything I had ever imagined. Tears welled up in my eyes as I realized who the God that had saved me was.

He wasn't just some meddling sea spirit... he was the greatest of all the Gods, The Unconquered Sun.

"Will you die to save Creation?" He asked. His smile caused what fear I had left to evaporate like morning dew. I'd been prepared to lose my life to rid the West of Gyoza. If my death was necessary to bring a world like the one I saw into being, I was prepared.

No, more than prepared! I felt zealous!

"Yes! A thousand times, yes!" I vowed. "I'm yours!"

"You always have been," he took my chin in his hand and kissed me on the forehead.

Light exploded all around me with a force that rocked the ship. The Unconquered Sun disappeared.

I stared in disbelief at my own hands and the crew of _The Blood Shark_ gave me a very wide berth.

Not that I blamed them. I could still feel the God's presence, but he was no longer standing in front of me. His power was flowing through my veins. I felt like I could fly. I'd never been one to doubt myself – it usually got me into trouble, but my normally strong conviction had turned into something... I didn't know what to call it!

A kind of righteous fervor, I suspected. You see, it's one thing to know in your heart of hearts that what you are doing is right and necessary. It's another thing entirely when the most powerful God in Creation comes down to tell you so. Of all the fools in the world, I'd been Chosen. Sun-Chosen.

I was...

"A... Anathema?" Boots stammered.

That was when I made the connection.

_Oh._

Fuck.

Before I had time to profess my own innocence, I noticed an all too familiar shadow on the horizon. I grabbed the boatswain and seized his telescope.

It was Sealord Keriv... ahead of schedule. The vinegar-encrusted old troll would have been a sight for sore eyes if I'd still been trading words with Gyoza, but in light of what had just happened to me, running into a Dragonblood was not on my list of things to do. I needed time to learn what I was capable of before I tangled with a full-fledged sorcerer.

I realized then that there was more to being a Solar than feeling a sudden burning desire to charge out and save the whole world. The God had gifted me with Essence! Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the sword I'd used to run Gyoza through. Though I couldn't physically reach it, when I focused intently on the blade I could feel Essence welling up around me. I called for it.

"Hah!" I exclaimed as the weapon shot into my grasp. That trick was going to come in very handy!

I turned to face what was left of Gyoza's crew. "Don't just stand there, men! It's the Sealord! All hands on deck!" I ordered. Most of the men scattered right away, not even bothering to ask why I thought I had the right to tell them what to do.

"You're not the captain!" The boatswain got a good look at me, probably for the first time and the expression on his face made it readily apparent that he wished he hadn't drawn attention to himself.

"I am now!" I replied. "You boys won't make it swimming back to Azure and you know it! Now, I'm not telling you to fire the first shots, but you know Keriv is here to take his cargo back, and kill anyone what knows where this loot really came from!"

Without another word, the boatswain took off running to his post. Still using his telescope, I counted the open gunports on the Sealord's vessel. He was going to broadside us! Apparently covering up evidence of his crime was more important to him than looting The Blood Shark.

"Sheets to the wind!" I ordered. "We've got to run!"

"We're loaded down. We can't maneuver worth a damn!" One of the mates shouted back.

"Cut the cargo! Throw it all overboard if you want to live! Starboard cannons fire!" I gave the order and our first barrage of cannon hit the Sealord's ship – probably before he thought we were in range. The weapons Gyoza had taken from the Scarlet Empress's pleasure boat were good – I'd give him that, but we were still too slow. The Sealord returned fire, one volley punching holes in our hull and a second taking out men and cargo all over the deck. A chain ball struck the mainmast, splintering it where Gyoza's daiklave had already weakened the wood. As the mast fell, I saw poor damned Second Boots looking at the corpse of his unfortunate friend, First Boots.

"Pay attention, you idiot!" I ordered, shoving Second Boots out of harm's way. A falling batten struck me square in the ribs and I fell over the deck railing and into the water. As Aunt Ness always did say - "_The road to hell is paved with good intentions_".

I could hear cannons rumbling like thunder from under the waves and see both ships falling to pieces above me. As confident as I'd felt only moments ago, I realized that I'd made a rather poor showing for a Lord of Creation. I'd been Exalted for ten minutes, taken a ship and lost it almost immediately, and then gotten myself knocked in the sea like a real lubber. Drowning wasn't a death I would have chosen.

It seemed too... ordinary. But there was no use fighting for the surface with two whole ships coming down on top of me.

As I sank into the murky, blue-black depths, I thought I heard the Unconquered Sun's voice.

_This too, is part of my plan._

Without fear, I closed my eyes and surrendered to Fate.


	2. Chapter 2 - Clever Devil

**The Ballad of Windswept Rhapsody**

**Two - Clever Devil**

I awoke coughing up lungs full of seawater. All I knew was that I was alive... and that I was not alone.

A woman evaluated me with a mischievous smirk. She was maybe twice my age... forty or possibly even fifty with sun-bleached hair cropped short and leathery skin that made her look like a salty old Tya. Her body was covered in exquisite silver tattoos and she was dressed in simple, serviceable clothing of a nondescript beige color. All in all, my rescuer would have looked right at home in any little fishing village of the West... except for the fact that she had a tail.

It was a fox's tail, a beautiful russet-red color tipped with white and it was most definitely not ornamental. She swished it in my face.

"A...Anathema?" I gasped.

The monster gave me an unusually toothy grin.

I scrambled to my feet. I'd no idea where I was. There was no sign of_ The Blood Shark_ or Keriv's ship... the sea was calm and the water that surrounded us was shallow and sky blue. We were less than a mile out from a little island that I did not recognize... on the deck of a little fishing skiff.

I took a deep breath and steadied myself. If I truly believed that the Unconquered Sun could bring about the world that he'd shown me, I had to believe that he was fully capable of spiriting me from one corner of Creation to another if he so chose.

"That's not a very nice thing to say, Shipwreck!" The Anathema informed me. "Considering that I just saved your life."

"Shipwreck?" I took stock of my own appearance. Truthfully, I did look bad. There was no wound where I'd been shot but my clothes were in tatters, singed and stained with blood. "My name is Rhapsody." I admitted, not thinking to give an alias.

"And you, my rescuer?" I decided to be polite. We were still quite a ways from land and from what I'd seen of my rescuer, I'd gathered that upsetting her was probably a very bad idea. More importantly, if I'd just become Anathema myself... surely we were kindred spirits?

She did not seem to recognize my name, which was a relief. The last thing I needed presently was the added challenge of living up to my own reputation. "Clever Devil," She replied. "And for what it's worth, Rhapsody... I'm glad you're not dead. I was worried for a bit that you wouldn't be waking up."

We shook hands and for a bit longer than seemed natural, we stood facing one another. Clever Devil was taller than me, almost so tall that she could have rested her chin on top of my head. She didn't actually touch me, but she did stand close enough that she could have, and I could hear her breathing.

We were strangers, but being so close to her felt natural somehow. _Right._

"You sail, girl?" She asked.

I nodded and coughed. There was still a lot of sea water in my lungs and in my stomach. I could feel it sloshing about and my ribs ached. I guessed that several of them were probably broken. All things considered... I'd still fared remarkably well.

"Mind the boat then, I've lost a couple traps. And don't even think of setting off without me... I _will_ find you if you do!" Clever Devil warned. A silver flicker of light ran the length of her body and her shape changed. One moment I was standing face-to-face with a woman who bore more than a passing resemblance to a fox... and the next a speckled seal gave me a knowing wink before hopping right over the edge of the boat and disappearing into the reef.

The seal returned ten minutes later with a pair of crab traps filled to the brim with the delicate little red rock-crawlers that the waters around Wavecrest were so famous for. I didn't doubt that I was far from my original destination – Azure, but seeing those crabs made me wonder where exactly I'd found myself.

"Where are we?" I wondered, turning to Clever Devil. Her clothes were miraculously dry, but her hair and her... tail were wet, as if she'd just been for a swim... which she had, albeit in the form of a seal. Humming to herself, she pulled a little comb out of thin air and used it to straighten her wet and unruly hair.

"Devil's Roost," Clever Devil replied.

"Never heard of it," I admitted.

"Not surprising. It's my own private island," she smirked. I stared still as she wrung out her tail.

"How did you do that?" I wondered.

"A gift of Luna's. One of many," she replied with a conspiratorial wink.

"Should you really use a God's power for... something so petty?" I asked. It seemed like an important question.

"Petty?" Clever Devil scoffed. Luna wants us to eat. If she didn't want us to eat, she wouldn't make us so goddamned hungry all of the time." She surveyed her traps with a smirk. "Looks like it's crab tonight!"

I said nothing. I watched her for a few minutes as she counted her catch and threw back a few barnacles that had fixed themselves to her traps. She was as fastidious as I'd ever seen anyone when it came to her work. I suspected that she was that way about most things, from the condition of her skiff. The little vessel was perfectly maintained. Even the stitching that had been used to repair the sails was fine enough to adorn an aristocrat's best gown.

I felt unreasonably sloppy by comparison, but Devil didn't seem to mind. In fact, she barely seemed to notice me – until she wanted to head back to her little island, at which point she promptly shoved me away from my perch and took command of her fishing boat.

"How did you find me?" I wondered, not really expecting an answer.

"How did I... Oh! I almost forgot!" Devil exclaimed. Moving a folded-up sailcloth aside, she produced a black case that I recognized immediately. Though I couldn't recall where I'd stashed it some time before my bout with Gyoza, somehow my mandolin had survived the wreck of The Blood Shark. "This yours?" She asked.

"My mandolin?" I exclaimed. I coughed a few times, spitting up more seawater. However much I'd swallowed – it clearly would have been enough to drown an ordinary mortal.

"Apparently it is," she replied gruffly, and I gathered that she'd already seen the instrument within the case. She handed it to me. "I figured I would sell it if it wasn't."

I opened the case slowly, prepared for the worst... but my mandolin had remained blessedly dry considering the circumstances.

"It was floating like a cork where I found you. Actually caught my eye before you did. You a bard?" She asked.

"I've been called worse," I admitted, thinking of the expression on the drunk boatswain's face when he'd seen me burning bright.

"I suppose this is yours too?" She tossed me the sword I'd had in my hand when the batten had come crashing down on me. It was a nice blade and had obviously belonged to someone who appreciated fine steel as well as aesthetics. I didn't have a sheath for the sword, but I wrapped it in what was left of my hapi coat and put it through my belt, catching the guard on my buckle. I was glad to be armed again. The West was a dangerous place for anyone and worse for a woman, even without the added hazard of being...

I glanced at Clever Devil, or more accurately, her _tail._

Yeah, that was going to take some getting used to.

"I thought it prudent to disarm you before waking you up," Clever Devil remarked.

"Clever," I nodded respectfully, knowing that I would never have thought to look under the neatly folded sail.

"It _is _my name," My rescuer replied. She hopped out of her skiff and pulled it slowly ashore. When I stumbled a little standing up and started to cough again, she offered me her hand and helped me step out of the boat. "Take it easy. You probably still have some water in your lungs."

She picked up her crab traps and started off into the jungle. I hesitated for a moment on the beach.

"Why are you helping me?" I wondered.

"I haven't had company in a long while," she replied. "Also, I like your face." The look she gave me said much more than any words could.

"Whoa, listen... I appreciate being rescued and all but I..." I trailed off into silence as Clever Devil pointed to her own forehead. The mark of a crescent moon flickered on her brow.

_She knew_.

"Oh. Well, that was embarrassing," I admitted. "I thought you meant... it doesn't matter."

"You thought I wanted to tear your clothes off? Oh, I'm all for that! Like I said, not a lot of company out here," she gave me a wicked smirk.

"But I'm a woman!" I argued.

"And I'm a Lunar. Luna wants us to have sex. If she didn't want us to have sex, she wouldn't have made us so goddamned..."

"Stop it!" I cut her off, knowing that I was probably blushing the color of a tomato.

"_All of the time,_" Clever Devil leered.

I had a feeling it was going to be a really long night.

After we finished off a good number of crabs and drank our fill of a magnificent, _evil_, fermented sugar brew that Clever Devil claimed was her own personal invention – I somehow found the words to tell my new friend what had happened to me, the whole of it, starting with how I'd run afoul of Gyoza in the first place and how my shipmates had been captured.

I finished with the events that had landed me in the sea... as much as I understood them, at any rate. It was almost dawn by the time I'd cleared my head.

I simplified the story somewhat, explaining to Devil that I'd seen a vision and that I'd known everything was going to be all right, even if I didn't understand _how _the Unconquered Sun was planning on orchestrating my rescue. She admitted that she hadn't seen any ships at all herself – only some flotsam floating along a few miles out and myself in the midst of it.

"I wish I could remember what happened," I admitted.

"Meh. First epic battle's always a bit foggy," She remarked casually.

"Have you been... Chosen for a long time?" I wondered.

"Mm," Devil sipped her sugar brew. "Not really."

"How long?" I pressed.

"About seventy-five years," she replied. I stared at her in disbelief.

"And that's _not _a long time?" I protested.

"Rhapsody, there are Lunars out there who are _two-thousand years old_. They remember the damned Usurpation. Compared to them, I _am _a kidling," she replied.

"The Usurpation?" The word sent an uneasy shiver racing down my spine. I was certain that I'd heard it before and I didn't like the sorts of things that I seemed to associate with it. I could picture the beautiful city the Unconquered Sun had shown me crashing to the ground and burning...

It seemed so real to me. I could almost feel the heat of the flames, as if I were standing right there and watching everything I loved being destroyed.

"Ooh," Devil observed. "That one's a doozy, eh?"

"What do you mean?" I wondered.

"We all have some memories of our past lives. We don't all remember the same things, however – and sometimes what's a trigger for one Exalt isn't for another. Like, you could say "Usurpation" to me and I'd give you a historian's explanation of what happened and why," Devil explained. "But _you_... you remember it."

"I've never remembered anything like this before," I admitted, still shaken.

"That's because you're Exalted now. As the Dragonbloods say, you've been 'spiritually enlightened'. You're going to start remembering all kinds of things from your previous lives. But you can't let the past define the present. You've got to use those memories as they're meant to be used – as tools so that you can be a better person this time around than you were before," Devil explained.

"Hold on, what do you mean "before?" I stared at Devil. "We knew each other before?"

"Dunno. Maybe," Devil replied cryptically.

"But if you _didn't _know me, then how would you know that I _wasn't_ a good person in my past lives?" I demanded.

"You're a Solar, aren't you?" Devil remarked between bites of crab. She'd been staring at the last one in the pot all night and had apparently decided that it was time to eat it.

"I... guess so," I nodded.

"Then believe me, your behavior needed work!" She replied. "I'm speaking from a Lunar perspective, obviously... but _all _Solars have some serious issues. Imagine if you woke up on my boat and instead of _thanking_ me for saving your hide – you suddenly decided to set me on fire. That's how bad the Solars got, back in the old days. Towards the end, some of them were behaving like the very fiends of Malfeas. Which put us Lunars in an _exceptionally _awkward position, being that we were charged with both _helping _you folks _and _being Stewards of Creation."

"I think I understand. But did it just happen suddenly – one day, the Solars were all lunatics? Or did they.. did _we _go mad over time?" I pressed.

"Not sure which. I think some just broke. Others took the scenic route downhill into depravity. No rhyme or reason to it. Some of the Elders think all Solars are cursed," Devil finished.

"Cursed?" I echoed. As if I could possibly forget the Unconquered Sun's words to me!

"Something wrong?" Devil pressed.

"I just put a couple things together, that's all," I replied.

"Yeah, well... try to get some sleep. It took us thousands of years to create this bloody mess. No use trying to sort it all out in one night," Devil advised.

"That's probably true," I agreed. I pulled the blanket she'd provided for me up to my chin and laid down, trying to keep my eyes closed. I failed miserably at that and decided to do a little exploring instead. The sky was very faintly pink and I could feel that the sun was about to rise. Even if I'd been blindfolded I would have known the time of day in an instant.

I suspected that it was a Solar thing... but really, I had no idea what I was capable of – and from what Devil had told me so far, I wondered if asking her too much about the past might be a mistake. There were probably many things I would have to learn for myself – not that I minded such a challenge. I've always been independent.

Despite how restless I felt, Clever Devil seemed to be sleeping soundly enough and didn't even stop snoring when I stepped over her. She'd rolled uncomfortably close to me since lying down which left me wondering about her earlier suggestive comments. I'd never had any sort of romantic inclinations towards a woman before, let alone one several times my age who looked like a battle-scarred Tya.

Still smelling of her wretched, beautiful sugar-brew... Devil reminded me a bit of a sad old tinker I'd once known. He'd always promised the pretty young girls ribbons for chaste kisses – and any time one took pity on him and obliged, he lit up like a carnival lantern and danced through the streets for weeks. I'd kissed the tinker many times myself – not because I wanted his ribbons, but because it filled up something inside of me to see him smiling.

I felt indebted to Devil for everything she'd told me – and the fact that she'd saved my life. Without waking her, I knelt down and very softly kissed her on the forehead, just as The Unconquered Sun had kissed me. It felt like something I could do for her, something that would help her in ways that I really couldn't understand. It was... a blessing?

I smiled slightly as Devil yawned and rolled over, not seeming to notice the faint golden haze of Essence that hung over her for a moment and then dissipated. Without lingering another moment, I struck off into the trees. The island that Devil had brought me to really was a paradise.

Fishing aside, the rocks teemed with wildlife of every kind imaginable and more than once I thought I saw a colorful bird watching me with familiar eyes. Whenever I turned to catch sight of the creature, it vanished.

Finally, after what felt like hours of fighting my way through the green, I came to a rocky precipice overlooking the whole of the island. I did not doubt that Devil was probably awake and looking for me – but it was difficult not to stare in awe at the sight that I beheld.

There was a ship on the horizon – the most magnificent vessel I had ever seen. It seemed to be made, not of wood and cloth like any ordinary ship but of rare metals with iridescent sails formed from rainbow-colored Essence.

I knew I had seen that ship before, and my stomach turned an uncomfortable loop. It was the disappearing vessel that had sunk the Scarlet Empress's pleasure boat and gotten my friends thrown in jail. Not for the first time, I wondered if things weren't more complicated than they seemed. Was I meant to go after Gyoza myself? I couldn't deny that I felt a strange kinship with Clever Devil, unlike anything I'd experienced before.

The curious-looking bird that had been following me since I'd left Devil's side suddenly landed on my shoulder.

"Well, well! There she is!" I heard Devil's voice very distinctly in my ear and realized that the Lunar had been by my side all along. "Quite the beauty, eh?"

"Oh yes!" I agreed, still staring. "You were expecting visitors?" I pressed.

"In a manner of speaking," Devil laughed. "That old girl out there, she's called The Unseen Slicer of Waves. Faster than the best Shogunate refuse and more elusive than any ghost ship in Creation! You just watch her sail!" Devil took off, flying in an arc over my head and as I followed her course, I noticed the ship we'd caught sight of vanishing like a mirage.

"Where did she go?" I gasped.

"Back outside of Fate," Devil explained. "The crew knows they've been seen. Must be a Sidereal around here somewhere, watching us."

"Sidereal?" I echoed. The word seemed familiar to me.

"Unhunh." Devil nodded. "Sidereals are Celestial agents. They work for Fate. Most people don't know that they exist. Disappearing is what they do best."

"I'll say!" I agreed. "I've never seen a whole ship vanish like that before!"

"Nor will you again. The Unseen Slicer is one of a kind," Devil replied, sounding nostalgic. There was something in her words that struck me as unusual and I discovered that when I focused, I could hear what Devil had meant to say rather than what she'd actually said.

"You've sailed on her before?" I exclaimed.

"Once," Devil lied. She landed on the ground next to me and resumed her human form.

"All right, Himitsu!" Clever Devil announced in a loud voice. "Where are you and what do you want?"

"Clever Devil," a voice laughed. "It's been a long time!"

Where no one had been standing a moment before, there was suddenly a man just slightly taller than my own height, dressed all in black with a pair of small purple glasses perched on his nose. He fanned himself with a set of silvery blades that would not have looked out of place in the hands of a courtesan and swept his long, black braid over his shoulder with a roguish smirk.

"Windswept Rhapsody, I'd like you to meet Himitsu. My former employer," Devil replied.

"Still bitter about all that?" Himitsu sighed. "The Convention hasn't been the same without you, Devil-dear, but I suppose I need not tell you that. Righteous Tsunami has become quite insufferable in your absence."

"You worked for Fate? You're... not a Sidereal, are you?" I wondered uneasily, still not sure what to make of the word that Clever Devil had used.

"One can't be both a Sidereal _and_ a Lunar!" Devil informed me. "And I'm proud to be the latter, thank you very much!"

"More's the pity. You'd have made a _deadly _Chosen of Secrets!" Himitsu laughed.

"Is that what you are?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"My dear, I am a Chosen of Endings." Himitsu paused, as if he was considering saying something more. "Speaking of which, Clever Devil... you are aware that _your _alloted _"_retirement" has... shall-we-say "expired"? The Convention wants you back. Immediately."

"And if I say _no_?" Devil demanded.

Himitsu turned to me. "Windswept Rhapsody – would _you _like to sail on The Unseen Slicer of Waves?"

"Are you serious?" I gaped at him. "You want me on that ship? The... the one that's _invisible _and way out there right now?"

"She's not as beautiful as she looks on the inside. She can be... a bit temperamental," Himitsu admitted. "Ever since..."

"A certain Lunar tampered with her twenty-five years ago?" Clever Devil retorted. She smiled.

Himitsu groaned. "Yes, it seems that the Unseen Slicer has developed... a mind of her own. Among other things, she's quite insistent that we... ah, "diversify" her crew?"

"She won't let you work on her, will she?" Clever Devil put her hands on her hips. "I suppose it's futile to ask you what the mission is this time?"

"I can't tell you yet," Himitsu replied. "You should know better than anyone, Devil. Oversight's business is... delicate."

That word "Oversight" left me feeling a lot like the word "Usurpation" had – confused and nervous. It seemed like something I should remember, but the memories themselves wouldn't come.

"What is Oversight?" I wondered.

"_Complicated,_" Devil replied.

I got the distinct impression that she'd just responded with the great-granddaddy of all understatements.


End file.
